If at any time, you are being asked to pay more than the equivalent of U.S. $14.00, then you are not at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) website. The fee is comprised of two parts: a U.S. $4.00 fee for processing the application and a U.S. $10.00 authorization fee which is only charged if the application is approved and the applicant receives authorization to travel to the United States using the visa waiver program. If the ESTA application is denied, the applicant is only charged the $4.00 application fee. CBP is not responsible for any additional fees that may be charged by your credit/debit card company or PayPal for the transaction.

I’ve been charged more than US $14.00 for ESTA, why?

There are a number of third parties that have established websites that charge a fee for submitting your application on your behalf. If you have used one of these third party sites, we strongly suggest you use your application number to confirm with the official U.S. government site to ensure that your ESTA is in our system. We recommend you do this because we have no way of knowing if the information passed through the third party website to us is accurate. If it is not, you may have a problem when you arrive in the U.S.

For instructions on how to look up your ESTA, see the help topic “Checking Your ESTA Status”.

CBP cannot refund the money you paid to a third party website, however if you think you have been victimized, contact your bank , credit/debit card company, or PayPal and request a refund of any amount over the US $14.00 required by the U.S. government by disputing the add-on charges on your statement.

U.S. Consulate

This is the official website of the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in New Zealand. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.